Advanced Lesson 10 – 2/1 (Two Over One) Bridge Bidding System

Due to popular demand for our aspiring duplicate and serious Bridge players, we will be covering the 2/1 Bridge system in some detail! While the Standard American bidding system has gained a strong following for social players over the years, many competitive bidders looking to make for games and slams have turned their attention to the 2/1 system. And why not, after opener has begun 1 Heart or 1 Spade and responder has made a 2 level response in a lower ranking suit (both unpassed hands without interference), in essence the responder is promising game-going values, typically 12+ points. Now the partnership can carefully provide a further description of their hand without fear of partner passing out the auction before reaching game – cool!

Of course, 2/1 players need another mechanism for both weak hands worthy of a single bid as well as invitation bids with slightly less than game-going values. Here’s where the forcing 1 Notrump response comes into play. The forcing 1 Notrump response is very versatile, offering responder a wide range of options to describe many types of hands including a weaker hand with a 6 or good 5 card suit and weak values. In this video series we will discuss the background and benefits of the 2/1 system, the difference between forcing and non-forcing bids and offer commentary on 30+ bidding scenarios over the next 5 lesson segments. So as always, we have a plethora of Bridge hands here at BridgeHands.